Ben-DutkaNormally, we don't bother with any "news" concerning hackers, but this bit seems to be sweeping across the Internet like wildfire.
According to MaxConsole , a hacker claims to have located a certain string in a PS3 .RCO file that apparently states, "msg_error_console_hot_pls_restart." This translates to, "the system has become hot. Please turn off the system and wait a while before turning it on again." Hence, the hacker has interpreted this as follows: Sony could prevent the deadly "Yellow Light of Death" issue by simply implementing a feature that would shut the system down when it was on the verge of overheating. …and the reason they didn't is because they wanted more sales. I.e., a YLoD outside any warranty will force the gamer to simply buy another console, thereby artificially inflating sales numbers.
Now, I know absolutely nothing about coding. But I do know a little something about numbers. I know that according to retail estimates, the YLoD has never once been all that catastrophic, especially in regards to the new Slim model. It seems highly unlikely that Sony would earn extra significant revenue by "cashing in" utilizing the above hypothesis. But why is this news when the competition's "Red Ring of Death" on the Xbox 360 has indeed proven catastrophic…? So much so that Microsoft actually had to implement a free defective replacement policy? So bad that retailers at one time estimated a disastrous 30% sold : returned defective ratio? Microsoft went on record many times over the years saying they don't know what causes it, and at one time said, "it could happen to any system." Then, they go and release the new Slim saying they've fixed the problem. …forgive me, but how can you fix a problem when you don't know what it is?
It has long since been theorized that Microsoft could very easily have fixed the issue early on, when it seemed like half the 360s sold at launch were dead within the first year. With any other product, that's simply a colossal failure and one that would require action. But years went by, and God only knows how many gamers had to buy new 360s…does anyone know someone who has been forced to buy any less than three? The RRoD has been covered by everyone from the smallest blogs to the New York Times and statistically speaking, is many times more destructive than the YLoD, which hasn't been anywhere near as widespread. Why exactly are we following a would-be logical train of thought on Sony's side when blatant evidence for the same hypothesis exists amongst the competition…?
By the way, for the record, Nintendo makes the most reliable consoles. They always have. Pretty sure you could let a train run over the Wii and and it'd still somehow work. But it's also a well-known fact that Microsoft has always been on the opposite end of the reliability spectrum, and if any company is guilty of artificially inflating sales numbers by conveniently ignoring a major problem…well, I'm not sure Sony should be taking the headline.
